Plum and the Supernatural
by DoomedRomance
Summary: This is Stephanie Plum and BtVS crossover. There's serial killer in Trenton and of course Stephanie gets involved.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or any of BtVS character. They belong to Joss. I also don't own any of the Stephanie Plum characters. They are the property of the wonderful Janet Evanovich. I don't make any money from this, the only thing I get is the pleasure of writing._

Chapter 1 – Stephanie POV _Author's note- This first part is Stephanie's POV, but all other chapters will be 3__rd__ person._

Some days are better than others. That's what everyone has told me. My name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm a bounty hunter. The only problem, I'm not a very good bounty hunter. I usually end up covered in garbage while the FTA, that's Failure to Appear, is naked or covered with Vaseline or something equally disgusting. It seems like these things only happen to me.

Enough with the pity party. I have things to do. And one of those things is to go home and take a shower. My latest skip, Ray Bosca, a 75-year-old man, dumped his garbage can on me as I was yelling up to him in his apartment. Seems he didn't think he should have to go court for shoplifting. He said he was old and should be exempt from things like that. Go figure. I'd come back later; right now I just wasn't in the mood.

I drove back to my apartment trying to appreciate the beautiful spring day. Of course, it was hard to do considering I smelled like Chinese take-out. I picked a noodle out of my hair as I drove down the road.

My answering machine was blinking when I walked into my apartment. I ignored it and went and tapped on Rex's cage. He stuck his face out of his soup can and twitched his whiskers at me. When he figured out I didn't have any food, he disappeared back into the can. I am just not appreciated.

I took a quick shower, blew dry my hair, and gunked on several coats of mascara. It was more than I usually wore, but something told me I might need it today. After all, it was only 10:30 in the morning and I'd already had to take another shower.

My answering machine was still blinking at me, so I went over and pushed the button.

"Babe." Came the sexy male voice that could always make me melt. "Call me."

The sexy voice belonged to Ranger, aka Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Also known as Batman and the Wizard. Ranger and I had an odd relationship. Odd in the way that he doesn't do relationships and in that I let him get away with that attitude while still allowing him to steal kisses and cop a feel whenever he wants to.

I know that makes me sound like a bad person, but have you ever seen Ranger? If you haven't, you can't understand. Ranger is a Cuban-American badass. He's got the mocha latte skin and not an ounce of fat on his perfectly sculpted body. He dresses in black, always, drives expensive, shiny, new, black cars, always. He seems to have an endless supply. Which is good, considering my cars have a short life expectancy and so does any car Ranger loans me.

I picked up the phone and hit speed dial 1.

"Yo." Came Ranger's customary greeting.

"Yo, yourself." I said. "What's up?"

"You available to do a distraction tonight?" Ranger asked.

"When and where?" I asked.

"11 o'clock. I'll send someone over with your clothes."

"I have clothes." I argued. "I don't need your clothes."

"Babe." Ranger said, just the one word. God, that drove me nuts, but I also knew I wouldn't win.

"Make sure the clothes are here in plenty of time for me to get ready."

"Done. I'll pick you up tonight at 10:30." Then, Ranger disconnected.

I dropped the phone back in the cradle. Great, I had 12 hours until Ranger would be here. Actually, the clothes thing had me a little nervous. I did distractions for Ranger a lot, and I had the clothes for the job. If he was sending something over, it must be a classier place than we usually went. Usually, the target of a distraction was a skip hiding in some sleazy bar. My job was to get the guy to go outside with me so Ranger's men could do the takedown without starting a brawl inside the bar. If we were going some place nicer, I had things to do. I needed a manicure and pedicure and possibly a wax job.

Okay, okay, you got me. I want to look good for Ranger. Yeah, I know. He doesn't do relationships, but he would do me with partial consent, his words, not mine. I still haven't figured out exactly what it means. I was withholding partial consent, but it was hard. My on-again, off-again relationship with Trenton cop Joe Morelli had been off for the last three months. He couldn't deal with the fact I wouldn't quit my job and become a burg housewife and couldn't deal with the fact he was a major jerk about the whole job thing. I mean, he's a cop. His job is dangerous, but you didn't see me demanding he give it up.

But first, I had to go by the office and see if Connie had any skips for me. The rent still has to be paid.

I walked into the office and found Connie, the office manager, putting on another coat of candy apple red nail polish.

She closed the cap when she saw me and blew across her nails.

"Heard you had some trouble this morning." She said, still blowing on her nails in an effort to get them to dry.

"The usual." I replied, and it was the truth. Damn, I think I need a new job.

"Got some new skips for you." Connie said and handed me three files. "One of these guys should probably go to Ranger, but his plate is full right now. He's been hired to track down a serial killer."

My eyes widened. "A serial killer? Here, in Trenton?" How had I not heard about this? "Wait a minute." I said. "The cops hired Ranger to track this guy?"

"Not the cops." Connie said. "Father of one of the victims. When he found out his daughter wasn't the first and the cops were clueless, he hired RangeMan. And the killings aren't in Trenton. There have been 5 women and 3 men killed in 2 months all across the state. The cops are trying to keep it quiet. They don't want to start a panic."

"How do they know it's the same person?"

"The way they were killed." Connie replied with a shudder. "They were all found in the back alley of nightclubs with their throats slashed, drained of blood."

I felt myself pale a little bit at that. What a horrible way to die.

I looked at the first file, Mooner, again. At least he's easy money, although it would take a few hours. I always had to watch some TV marathon with him first.

The second file didn't look too bad. Sabrina Nester, wanted for FTA on a possession charge. Claimed the wacky tobackky was medicinal. The file said she was 42 and had cataracts. Her picture showed her wearing very thick glasses.

Then, I glanced at the third file. This was not good. This guy was bad news. Anthony "Bulldog" Bensky. His picture explained the nickname. I won't go into detail. He had a police record five pages long and he was only 23. Suspected of being involved in a gang and wanted for attempted murder. They think the murder was supposed to be his final initiation. The only problem, his victim had lived and picked him out of a line up as her attacker.

Still, the money from this one would really help my bank account.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up about the same time Connie began to fan herself and stare over my shoulder. I didn't look behind me. I knew who was there.

"Babe." Ranger said, putting a hand on my neck and looking at the file in my hand. "This guy is bad news."

"I know." I said, glancing at him. "But, it's the job."

"I can give this to one of my men." Ranger offered.

I shook my head. "No, that's alright. I've got this one." I probably should have passed this off to Ranger, but I really needed the money.

"Can I talk to you outside?" It was more of a command than a question.

The moment we got outside, he had me up against the wall.

"Be careful." Ranger said.

I took a moment to wonder what he was talking about. Be careful with him, or the FTA? Because I could think of many, many things to do with Ranger, and none of them involved being careful.

"The FTA, Babe." Ranger's ESP was working perfectly.

I commanded myself not to blush, but it happened anyway. Ranger's eyes darkened and he leaned in for a kiss.

I was going to tell him to stop. No, I really was. But then, his mouth was on mine and any protests just evaporated. The only thing I was thinking about was how good he tasted and how I loved the way his lips felt on mine.

Ranger broke the kiss and a small whimper escaped me before I could stop it. I looked into Ranger's eyes and they were filled with lust. Oh boy, I'd better stop this now, before it goes too far.

Ranger started to reach for me again, but this time I scooted sideways out of his reach.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked when his eyes narrowed and he started toward me.

"I want to talk to you about tonight." He said, pushing his lust aside and putting his blank face on.

"What about it?" I asked.

"I'm going to give you a chance to back out." Ranger said.

"Why would I back out?"

Ranger took a moment to consider his words. "This isn't an average distraction. In fact, now that I think about it, I wouldn't call it a distraction at all."

"Then what would you call it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and starting to get a little pissed.

He let out a his version of sigh, just the slightest hint of breath escaping from his mouth.

"Fishing."

I blinked. Fishing? Then it hit me. "You want to use me as bait to find a serial killer?" I was amazed at how calm I sounded.

"Want to? No." Ranger answered. "That's why I'm giving you the chance to back out."

"If I back out, where does that leave you?"

"I can call in favor from Jeanne Ellen."

Nothing he could have said could have convinced me any faster not to back out. I didn't want that barracuda Jeanne Ellen anywhere around Ranger.

Jeanne Ellen Burrows is the female version of Ranger. She's everything I'm not. She's skilled, she's beautiful, she's a kick ass bounty hunter, and I hate her. Rumor has it she and Ranger used to be an item.

"I'm in." I told him.

"You sure?" he asked, searching my face.

"I'm sure." I spoke with a lot more confidence than I felt.

Ranger seemed satisfied with that. "See you at 10:30."

I stood against the wall and watched him drive away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer - See first chpater. I don't own anything._

_Authors Note: As I said in Chapter 1 the rest of the story will be told in 3__rd__ person. I realized I couldn't tell the story the way I wanted to with only 1 POV and I don't do well going from person to person POV. Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 2._

Chapter 2

"Come on, Buffy." Xander said through the door. "We've got to get going."

Buffy opened the door and looked out at Xander.

"I need to look my best." Buffy defended.

"You always look great." Xander said.

"I need to attract his attention." Buffy argued. "This vamp is smart. We almost missed the signs."

Buffy was right. At first, the killings seemed like average murders. The victims' throats were slashed. Then, they started hearing about the bodies being drained of blood. After some investigation, mainly Willow hacking into some computer systems, they found the slashed throats were to cover up bite marks.

"They know there are lots of slayers now." Xander said. "They keep coming up with new ways to disguise their kills so we don't come looking for them."

"What's the hold up, B?" Came Faith's voice from down the hall of the hotel.

"She says she needs to look her best." Xander answered as Faith sauntered toward them. She stopped beside Xander and looked at Buffy.

"You look good, B." She said.

'Thanks, so do you." Buffy said, taking in Faith's outfit. It was leather, all of it, and tight enough that Buffy wondered if she could take a deep breath.

Buffy outfit was a little more demure. It was a clingy, peach number that barely covered her ass and left nothing to the imagination. Still, on her it looked good, not slutty.

"Let me grab my purse." Buffy said.

As they were walking out Buffy turned to Xander. "What's the name of this place again?"

"Starlights." Xander said. "Two of the victims were found there. It's the only club where more than one victim was found. It's a long shot, but I thought we should check it out."

"Sounds like fun." Faith said. "If we don't find the vamp, maybe we can find a different kind of action."

Xander stopped and looked at Faith with a pout. "I thought I was your only action?"

"Of course you are." Faith said, running her finger down his cheek. "I was talking about for B."

"Hey!" Buffy protested. "I get plenty of action."

"Sure you do, Buffy." Xander said patting her on the shoulder. "That's why you keep that shoebox full of stuff under your bed."

Buffy gasped and turned red. "How do you know about that?" She demanded.

"Remember when the housekeeper was sick and we all took turns cleaning?" Xander said, a huge smile on his face. "Well, I was vacuuming your room and accidentally sucked the dust ruffle from your bed into the vacuum. I was trying to get it lose and saw the box. It said it was men's boots and thought it might have been a birthday present for me, so I looked."

Buffy wouldn't look at him. She knew she was bright red.

Faith laughed. "Don't worry about it, B. Everybody's got their own version of the shoebox, but sometimes you need more than batteries can provide."

PlumBtvsPlumBtVSPlumBtvs

Stephanie was in the bathroom putting the final touches on her hair when she heard her front door open.

It should have worried her, but it didn't. She knew it was Ranger. Which meant she needed to hurry.

She looked at her watch and frowned. It was only 10:20. He was early.

She smoothed down her dress again and walked out of the bathroom.

"You're early." She said as she walked toward the living room.

Stephanie stopped in her tracts at the sight of the man sitting on her couch. He looked up at her angrily.

"Didn't know I was expected." Joe Morelli said as he stood up.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." He said, then looked her up and down taking in the little black dress that was so obviously expensive and her hair and make up. "But I guess I came at a bad time." This last part was laced with venom.

"What do you want to talk about?" Stephanie asked, ignoring the tone.

"I haven't seen you lately." Joe replied.

"You haven't seen me because we broke up." Stephanie said. "You said not to call until I gave up being a bounty hunter. I'm still a bounty hunter, so I didn't see the point."

"I didn't mean it." Joe said and started toward her.

"Yes, you did mean it." Stephanie argued.

That stopped him. "Okay, so maybe I meant it at the time."

"What do you want, Joe?" Stephanie sounded weary.

"I want you." Joe said. "I miss you."

"You miss the fights and the yelling?" Stephanie questioned. "Because that seems to be what we do best."

Joe grinned. "That is not what we do best." His tone was laced with suggestion.

"But they're what we do most often."

"It doesn't have to be that way." Joe argued softly. "All you have to do is get a safe, sane job and quit the bounty hunting business."

Stephanie's temper flared. "I like my job and I'm keeping my job. Face it, Joe, I'm never going to be a Burg wife."

They were both angry now, but before Joe could retort, the door to Stephanie's apartment opened and Ranger walked in.

"Ready to go, Babe." Ranger asked.

Joe turned back to Stephanie. "You're going out with him?" Joe yelled.

Stephanie took in Ranger's appearance. He did look like he was going on a date. He was wearing black slacks and a black cashmere sweater. Stephanie felt her hormones wake up. He looked yummy.

Stephanie shook it off. Now was not the time.

She looked at Joe. "It's not a date." She said. "I'm working a job for Ranger."

Joe's look was pure venom. "And just what is the job description?" The insinuation was clear.

Without conscious thought, Stephanie's hand came up and slapped Joe across the face.

"Get out." She was proud she sounded so calm.

"I think you need to go." Ranger said, stepping between Joe and Stephanie and backing her up until they weren't in reaching range of Morelli.

"I think you need to stay out of this." Joe said between clenched teeth. "This is between me and Stephanie."

"And she just told you to leave." Ranger's tone held a warning. Stephanie hoped Joe would heed the warning. They both carried guns. This could get very, very ugly.

Evidently, something in Ranger's posture and tone got through.

Joe shot Ranger a deadly look, then looked at Stephanie. "Don't come running back to me when he gets tired of you. I don't want his leftovers."

With those hurtful words, he turned on his heel and left the apartment, slamming the door as he went.

Ranger turned and put his palms on her shoulders. "Are you alright, Babe?" He asked softly.

Stephanie was fighting tears, so she just nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak just yet.

She turned and walked back toward her bedroom.

Ranger didn't follow, knowing she needed a few moments to calm down.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So, what's the move?" Faith asked when they got inside the club.

Buffy looked around and was not impressed by what she saw. There was nothing special about this place. It wasn't that bad, and was, in fact, pretty upscale, but it was just like every other nightclub she'd been in. You'd think someone could come up with an original idea. This was just an average nightclub with lowered lights, a bar, and a dance floor. There was a small stage, but there was no band. Either they were taking a break, or this place wasn't doing well enough to afford one. She was guessing it was the former, because this place was packed. For the interim, music was blaring from speakers set up on either side of the stage and Buffy could see a man in booth operating the sound system.

"Let's find a table." Xander said. "That way we have someplace to meet back up."

They found a table in the back, away from the lights and most of the noise and started to make their plans.

"Faith and I will start on the dance floor." Xander said. "We dance around and maybe Faith can pick up the vamp with her slayer senses."

"You just want to get your hands on my body." Faith flirted.

Xander grinned. "No one ever said you couldn't enjoy your work. This job needs a few perks."

"I'm heading for the bar." Buffy said, still looking around. "I can sit and watch the crowd from there. I'll also have a view of the back door."

Xander and Faith went out on the dance floor and Buffy moved toward the back door. She wanted to know the layout if she had to move quickly.

The back door actually led to a storage area, with the actual door to the alley beyond that.

Satisfied she could get through here quickly if she need to, she headed for the bar.

"What's the plan?" Stephanie asked as Ranger drove toward the club.

"We go in, get a drink, maybe have a dance, and keep our eyes open for anything out of place."

"You're going in with me?" Stephanie questioned. "You never go in with me." At least she knew why he was dressed for a date instead of in his normal swat attire.

"I don't like this." Ranger said. "To many variables. I can't control the situation like on a normal distraction. I don't like putting you at risk."

His words warmed her. He did care. As much as he didn't want to, Ranger did have feelings for her.

"I know you'll take care of me." Stephanie said with a pat to his forearm. "You always do."

Ranger turned serious eyes toward her. "Back up will be outside and Tank and Lester will be inside, but if there's any trouble, I want you to get out. Head straight for the guys outside."

Stephanie didn't say anything. How could he expect her to promise to leave him?

"You will leave if there's trouble." Ranger almost growled.

"Turn off your damned ESP." Stephanie growled back. "How can you ask me to leave you?"

Ranger pulled into the parking lot of the club.

He shifted into park and turned to face Stephanie. "Babe, please."

Shit! He brought out the p word. He knew she couldn't resist when he said please.

"Alright, fine." Stephanie grumbled. "If there's any trouble I'll go to the guys out here."

Ranger pointed to a dark portion of the parking lot. Stephanie followed the line of his finger and was barely able to make out the two black SUVs sitting there.

"Do you have everything?" Ranger asked as he checked his gear.

"The pepper spray and gun are in my bag along with a pair of cuffs. The GPS tracker is in my pocket. Yeah, I think I have everything."

"Are there any bullets in the gun?" Ranger asked.

Stephanie blushed. Damn him for knowing her so well, but this time she could surprise him.

"As a matter of fact, yes, it does have bullets in it."

"Proud of you, Babe."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Buffy watched Faith and Xander on the dance floor and was jealous.

Faith tried to deny it, but she was in love with Xander and Xander didn't care who knew he was head over heels for Faith.

Yes, she was jealous, but she was happy for them. They both deserved to be happy.

Buffy looked around the club again. So far she hadn't seen anything suspicious but for some reason she was wary. Something felt off, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

A huge, black man sat down beside her at the bar and ordered a beer.

Buffy glanced at him. He didn't seem like the type to be in a place like this.

She noticed he kept surveying the crowd. Maybe he was looking for someone.

Another large, black man walked up to bar and ordered a beer. He didn't speak to the first guy, but Buffy got the feeling they knew each other.

Her suspicions started to grow, but they were human. Her slayer senses weren't picking anything up from the two.

Still, she would keep an eye on them.

The second guy moved down to the end of the bar and sat down with his beer.

Buffy half expected the first guy to follow him, but he didn't. Didn't give any hint that he'd noticed the second man.

Buffy was watching the two, when suddenly both of them stiffened slightly and unconsciously straighten up a little.

Buffy looked around and saw a man and a woman standing just inside the door of the club.

Her first thought was "hello salty goodness". The man was perfection. Buffy felt her hormones wake up a little.

The man put his arm around the woman with him. She was beautiful with a great figure and unruly brown hair that she was sure men just wanted to run their fingers through. Buffy thought she was wearing a little too much make up. It was obvious she didn't need it.

She glanced at the two guys again. They were watching the couple.

The couple made their way toward the back of the club and sat down at the table next to the one where Xander and Faith were sitting.

When did they leave the dance floor?

Buffy cursed herself. She had been so busy watching the guys, she hadn't paid attention to what her friends were doing.

Buffy left the bar and made her way back to her friends.

"Decide to take a break?" Buffy asked as she sat down.

"Yeah." Faith replied. "I think I wore Boy Toy out."

"Never." Xander said, even though he was flushed and sweating. "Just wanted to get something to drink."

"Pick up on anything?" Buffy asked in a lowered voice, not wanting the couple at the next table to hear their conversation.

Faith shook her head. "So, what now?" she asked.

In a whisper Buffy explained the two guys and the couple next to them.

"It does seem odd." Xander said when she finished. "Right now, though, the couple is acting like any other couple on a date."

"The other two are still sitting at the bar." Buffy agreed. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Trust your senses, B." Faith said. "You taught me that. Something's going on, but it may not be our kind of thing. It could be a love triangle, a stalker, a drug deal, anything like that."

"Maybe." Buffy said. She started to say more when the couple next to them got up and went onto the dance floor.

"Want to go another round?" Faith asked Xander.

"Anything for you." Xander said as he took her hand and led her onto the dance floor.

Buffy decided to do a little recon of her own. So, she went back up to the bar and sat down beside the first man.

He didn't act like he noticed her, but Buffy saw the muscles in his back tense a little as she stepped up beside him.

The bartender brought her strawberry daiquiri and she took a sip. Even without the alcohol, these things were great.

"Hi, I'm Buffy." She said as she turned toward the man.

He gave her a weird look. "Tank." He said.

Okay. Man of few words. Buffy was not deterred.

"Are you with someone?"

"No." Another one word answer.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked.

"No."

"Do you think I'm hideous?" Buffy asked, sure this would get him to say more than one word.

"No."

"Do you speak more than one word at time?" Buffy demanded.

Buffy couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a slight grin before his face became expressionless again.

"Sometimes." He said.

Buffy was unsure what to do next. She wasn't used to men ignoring her. Usually it was her ignoring the men.

"See ya." Tank said as he slid off the stool and headed for the men's room.

Inside the men's room Tank let out the laugh that had been threatening every since the little white girl had started talking to him.

She was a pretty thing, and very easy to rile up. He had pissed her off bad. Obviously, she was used to being the bell of the ball.

Which started him wondering why she was talking to him at all. He didn't have money, didn't dress or act like he had money, and though he knew he wasn't ugly, she just didn't seem like the type to try and pick up men in a bar.

He made his way back to the bar, only to find the little blonde was still where he'd left her.

Tank ignored her and sat back down on his stool.

He had expected her to gone, running away with her tail between her legs. He had to admire her guts.

"Okay." Buffy said when he sat down. "If I'm not hideous and you sometimes speak more than one word at a time, why won't you talk to me?"

She had way more balls than he had originally given her credit for. "Got nothing to say." He responded, trying to figure out how to make her go away.

Any other time he might have enjoyed the battle of wits, but now he was working and Ranger would have his ass on a platter if anything happened to Stephanie while he was at the bar talking to a woman.

Tanks eyes quickly scanned the crowd and he spotted Ranger and Stephanie on the dance floor.

Buffy noticed where his eyes went.

"Okay." She said. "I get it now."

Tank cut his eyes toward her for a second, then were back on Ranger and Stephanie.

"Get what?" He asked, not looking at her.

"You want the brunette." Buffy said.

Tank thought he'd finally figured out a way to get rid of this girl.

"So?" He questioned.

Buffy was mad, and decided she didn't want to be mad alone. She decided to try and provoke this guy a little bit.

"Don't get me wrong," She began. "You're not a bad looking guy, but you can't compete with the guy she's with."

Once again, Tank almost laughed out loud. She was trying to piss him off!

Tank didn't say anything.

"Or maybe." Buffy's voice took on the tone of one telling a secret. "Just maybe, it's not the girl you want."

The comment took Tank off guard and he jerked his head around to look at her. He heard someone laughing in his earpiece. Actually, he was surprised they had kept quiet this long, but they were under radio silence unless it was an emergency.

"You think I'm gay?" He asked in astonishment. He was quickly revising his opinion of the girl. She didn't have balls, she was crazy.

Buffy gave him an evil grin and turned and walked away.

Tank watched her go and cast a glance at Lester sitting at the end of the bar. His face was expressionless, but Tank could tell he was trying not to laugh.

He shook his head. The guys would give him hell for a year over this.

Buffy sat back down at their table and scanned the dance floor for Faith and Xander. She found them dancing close to the other couple.

Buffy wished they would hurry; she had something to tell them.

The guy was wearing an earpiece. She hadn't noticed it until she implied he was gay and her advanced hearing picked up on the laughter.

Xander and Faith were enjoying their dance while trying to pick up any conversation from the couple they were watching.

They didn't get much. The noise level was high, and the guy seemed like a man of very few words. He let his actions speak for him. There was no doubt about it; he was seducing that woman right on the dance floor without saying one word. Faith knew the signs and could practically see the lust radiating from both of them.

It could all be an act, but she was sure she was watching a couple in love. Until Xander, she wouldn't have known what she was looking at, but now it was easy to spot.

They finished the dance and made their way back to Buffy.

"Learn anything?" Buffy asked.

"Not really." Faith answered. "I think they're a legitimate couple. They were sending out some waves."

"The big guy at the bar is wearing an earpiece." Buffy said.

"No shit." Faith said. "Do you know what's going down?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, but I want to find out. It must be pretty big to go through the trouble of wearing a wire. What about them?" Buffy gestured toward Ranger and Stephanie. "Did you spot anything on them."

"The guy is carrying." Xander said. "Look at his right ankle and the small of his back."

Buffy looked and unless you knew what to look for, you wouldn't see it.

"That's not really that unusual. I'd say 90 of the people in this bar are armed, including Tank."

"Who's Tank?" Faith asked.

"The big guy at the bar. I tried to strike up a conversation with him, but I didn't get much. Anyway, he said his name was Tank."

"Easy to see how he got that name." Xander said. "That guy is huge."

Ranger and Stephanie left the dance floor right after Xander and Faith and sat back down at their table.

"Want a drink?" Ranger asked.

"Yes, please." Stephanie answered, a little out of breath.

Ranger left to get the drinks and Stephanie looked around the room. She saw two women and a man sitting at the table beside her. She couldn't make out what they were saying, it was just too loud.

She almost fell out of her chair when she caught a piece of the conversation. She heard "armed" then a few more words, then "Tank".

Stephanie controlled herself until Ranger came back with the drinks.

She leaned in close and gave Ranger a peck on the lips.

She almost grinned at the confused look on his face, but this was serious.

She kissed him again, then buried her face in his neck, right at his ear.

"Those people over there are talking about Tank being armed."

Ranger didn't give any outward appearance that he'd heard anything.

He pulled Stephanie over onto his lap and kissed her neck. Stephanie was trying to stop the hormone rush the feel of his lips on her neck given her.

"Understand, Babe?" Ranger asked.

Evidently, Ranger had been talking while she was beating back her hormones.

Ranger pulled back and saw the lust in her eyes. He grinned. He loved being able to have that effect on her, but now was not the time. The couple that had been dancing so close to them had been trying to hear their conversation. He'd also noticed the blonde talking to Tank at the bar. He didn't know what was going on, but he intended to find out.

Ranger pulled Stephanie close again, but he didn't touch her neck this time. "Go to the bar and sit down with Lester."

"Won't that blow our cover?" Stephanie whispered back.

"I think it's already been blown. I need to find out who they are."

Stephanie nodded and started to stand up. Ranger stopped her progress and jerked her close again. "If there's any trouble, get out."

Stephanie nodded, although she had no intentions of leaving if things went south.

She walked over to where Lester was sitting and took the seat beside him.

He gave her a strange look, but didn't say anything.

"We've been made." Stephanie said in a low voice.

Lester still didn't look at her.

"Ranger sent me over here. The two women and the man sitting at the table next to us, they were talking about Tank being armed. I don't know if they made you too."

That got Lester to look at her.

"We need to get you out of here." Lester said. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

"I'm not leaving." Stephanie said, shaking her head.

Lester knew he couldn't reason with her. The only thing he could do was try and keep her safe.

"Did you guys get that?" Lester said.

"We got it." Came Bobby's voice in his ear. "We've got the alley covered."

Stephanie watched as Ranger gave some sort of hand signal to Tank and gestured toward the blonde.

Stephanie watched as the blonde got up from her table and made her way back to the bar. She didn't sit down beside Tank this time, but ordered a drink from the bartender.

Tank moved from his position and sat down beside the blonde. He'd heard Stephanie's conversation with Lester and knew if he'd really been made, this wouldn't be hard.

Buffy looked over as Tank sat down beside her. This wasn't good. He'd been ignoring her all night, now he wanted to talk. Something was wrong.

"I'm not gay." Tank said when he sat down.

"Really." Buffy replied.

"Really." Tank said. "I can prove it."

"And how would you prove it?" Buffy questioned.

"How about I take you up on your offer?"

"What offer would that be?" Buffy asked, a little confused.

"You were coming on to me." Tank said. "How about we go someplace a little more private and I'll prove I'm not gay."

"What about the brunette?" Buffy asked. This had to be one of the strangest conversations she'd had in a long time.

"She shouldn't be the only one getting lucky tonight."

Buffy wasn't fooled. He hadn't been interested before, and she was sure he wasn't interested now.

She decided to play his game until she could figure out what was going on.

"Where do you want to go?" Buffy asked.

"My place." Tank answered.

"Okay. Let's go." Buffy said. "I just need to get my purse."

Tank let her walk back to the table and pick up her purse. She said something to the other two at the table. They didn't look happy, but they also didn't turn and look at him.

"I'm ready." Buffy said when she returned.

"I'm parked out back." Tank said and took her elbow to steer her toward the back room.

Buffy didn't jerk away; she just went with the flow.

Tank opened the door and motioned for her to precede him outside.

Buffy stepped out into the cool night and her slayer senses went wild. They were not alone in this alley. It wasn't vamps, but humans.

Could they have been wrong and the murders weren't done by vamps, but maybe some kind of cult?

Tank took her elbow again and started to walk down the alley.

They'd only taken a few steps when he suddenly grabbed her by both shoulders and pushed her up against the wall.

"What in the hell are you doing?" she demanded, struggling a little bit.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Tank demanded.

"I'm Buffy and I want you to take your hands off of me."

"Not until I get some answers." He punctuated his sentence with a couple of small shakes.

"Now you're starting to piss me off." Buffy said through clenched teeth. This guy was human, she couldn't hurt him, well not too much anyway.

"Happens." Was his only reply.

"Enough of this. Let me go." Buffy demanded. "This is your last warning."

"You're not in a position to be giving warnings." Tank hissed back.

Buffy had enough. She brought up her arms and broke his hold on her shoulders. Once her shoulders were free, she gave him a jab in the face, hard but not slayer strength.

Tank felt the blow to his face. She could pack a punch for such a little thing.

"Good, but not good enough." Tank said as he reached for her again.

Buffy danced out of his reach. "You want a fight?" She asked. "Come and get it."

Tank didn't take the bait. He kept her distracted while Ranger moved up behind her.

Buffy didn't sense the guy behind her until it was too late. She felt a sting on her neck and shivered. She hated stun guns. They didn't have any effect on her, but they gave her the willies.

Buffy whirled around and knocked the stun gun out the guy's hand. Oh look, it was Mr. Salty Goodness.

"I hate those things." She said as she gave him a roundhouse kick to the side of the head.

The guy went down, but before she could regroup, she was surrounded by six men in swat gear, all armed and pointing their weapons at her.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Buffy heard Faith's voice coming from behind the men.

Four men turned to look at the new arrival and immediately trained their weapons on her while two remained focused on her. She had to admire the training.

Mr. Salty Goodness was back on his feet and had pulled his own weapon.

"I want some answers." He demanded as he advanced toward her.

"People in hell want ice water." Buffy retorted.

"Why were you spying on us?" Ranger demanded.

"I wasn't spying on you." Buffy said. "I don't even know who the hell you are."

"Your friends were trying to listen in on my conversation with the lady and you were discussing my other friend being armed."

"Look." Buffy said. "I don't know who you are, but I noticed some odd things about you and your guys. I wanted to know what was going on."

"You expect me to believe it's all a coincidence?" Ranger had never heard anything more absurd.

"I didn't come here for you." Buffy said angrily.

"Who did you come for?"

"Buffy, just give the word." Faith voice reached her. Buffy couldn't see her; the men around her blocked her view. Buffy didn't want Faith going off. All these guys had guns. Someone would get hurt.

She didn't believe these guys were murderers. They were trained, military men. She had stumbled onto someone else's operation.

Buffy decided, what the hell. "A murderer." Buffy directed her comment to the dark man.

Ranger was a little taken aback. Had someone hired this girl to find the killer?

"A murderer?" Ranger made it a question.

"Yeah. Know anything about it? He slashes their throats and drains their blood. Two of the victims were found in this alley."

Ranger studied her face, trying to pick up any sign that she was lying. He couldn't find any.

"I own a company called RangeMan." Ranger said. "I've been hired to find the murderer."

"Take some advice and quit this case." Buffy said. "I'm sure you're very good at what you do, but this is out of your league."

Ranger opened his mouth to refute that statement, but he never got the chance.

"Let my friends go." Xander yelled as he walked down the alley holding a stun gun to the neck of none other than Stephanie Plum.

Ranger froze. So did the Merry Men.

"Lower your weapons." Xander demanded.

Ranger looked at Stephanie. She didn't appear to be hurt or scared. "Babe?" He made it a question, actually several questions.

Stephanie may not have ESP but she understood. "I'm fine, Ranger." Stephanie assured him, not wanting things to get any more out of control. "He just wants his friends."

Ranger gave a hand signal and the men lowered, but did not put away, their weapons.

"Look, Ranger, wasn't it?" Buffy said as she backed away. "I'm not your enemy. You're getting into something you don't understand. Drop this case and let me do my job."

Ranger didn't respond and Buffy didn't wait around. Faith had made her way around the men guarding her and was standing beside Buffy, still ready to kick some ass if it became necessary.

Buffy gave Faith a small nudge and they began walking backwards until they reached Xander.

Xander still had Stephanie by the arm and the stun gun at her neck.

Xander gave a gentle tug on Stephanie's arm and the four of them backed their way toward the end of the alley.

"I'm sorry about this." Xander said to Stephanie and she was sure he was sincere.

"This is normal for me." Stephanie assured him.

Xander had to grin. After he had stun gunned the guy guarding her, he expected her to freak out and panic, but she had just made a little sigh and let him lead her down the alley.

Buffy was watching the men. If looks could kill, they would be dead. They were all ready to retaliate. She didn't want to push her luck any farther. As it was, she was lucky they had wanted to talk, not shoot.

They made it to the end of the alley; the men in black only a few feet away.

When Buffy was certain they had the buildings for cover she nodded to Xander who released Stephanie and ducked around the building.

Stephanie watched the three leave. They got into what she was sure was a rental car and took off.

"Are you alright?" Ranger asked as he ran his hands up and down her body checking her for wounds and waking her hormones up.

"I'm fine." Stephanie assured him as she backed away from his amazing hands. "He didn't hurt me."

"Where's Lester?" Ranger demanded and Stephanie felt sorry for Lester.

"Don't be mad at Lester." Stephanie said. "It wasn't his fault. He actually convinced me to let him get me to the vehicles. He thought I would be safer there. He was walking me out to the vehicle and the guy was hiding on the overhang of all places. He jumped on Lester and stunned him, but nothing more."

Ranger turned to Tank. "Make sure Lester is alright."

Tank nodded and quickly walked away.

Ranger guided Stephanie back toward the Porsche and tucked her into the passenger's side.

He didn't say anything while they drove toward Rangeman.

"You missed the turn to my apartment." Stephanie said as she turned in the seat to look at him. "You are taking me home?"

Ranger didn't answer. Anything he said now would just piss her off.

He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. Looked like she was getting pissed anyway.

"Take me home!" Stephanie demanded.

"I am." Ranger finally spoke.

"My home." Stephanie specified.

"I want you to stay at Rangeman tonight."

"Why?" Stephanie demanded. "I'm fine. I didn't get hurt and the only reason he wanted me was because you had his friends."

"Something doesn't feel right." Ranger admitted. "That blonde. I hit her with a stun gun and she acted like it was a bee sting. That's not normal. I had it set on low voltage. It may not have put someone Tank's size on the ground, but it should have worked on someone as small as her."

Stephanie knew exactly what being hit with a stun gun was like, and Ranger was right, what happened tonight was not normal. That still didn't mean she wanted him to try and take over her life.

"Yes, it was odd, but I'm not in any danger." Stephanie insisted. "I want to go home. I have to feed Rex."

Ranger gave a little sigh, a sure sign he was losing patience. Stephanie didn't care. She wanted to go home, take a shower, and hit the bed. She hadn't been scared when the guy with the eye patched grabbed her. In fact, she felt kind of safe, like she knew he would never hurt her.

She knew that was on odd way to feel, especially after all the stalkers she'd had, but she had also learned to trust her instincts and they told her the three people tonight were the good guys.

"They weren't the bad guys, Ranger." Stephanie said when Ranger remained silent.

"No, I don't think they are." Ranger agreed and slanted his eyes to look at her. "But, I'm not taking any chances in case I'm wrong."

Stephanie knew it was pointless to argue, Ranger could get her to agree to anything. However, she was going to try. It was expected of her, she told herself. If she didn't Ranger would think something was wrong with her.

"I don't have any clothes." She said. "Besides, there aren't any open apartments."

"You can stay in my apartment, and you have a couple of spare uniforms there."

"What about underwear?" Stephanie argued. "I need clean underwear and something to sleep in."

"You also have underwear at my apartment and you can sleep in one of my shirts, or nothing at all." Ranger ended the sentence with a tone full of innuendo.

Stephanie didn't bite. She couldn't win in that kind of conversation. Sex and Ranger in the same sentence was enough to send her hormones into overdrive and put a halt to any intelligent thought.

"Stop by my apartment and let me feed Rex and then I'll go to Rangeman." Stephanie caved in.

"I'll send someone to get him and bring him to you." Ranger said.

"No." Stephanie said with fire in her eyes. "That implies more than one night. That implies a prolonged stay. I'm staying tonight and I'm going home in the morning."

Ranger didn't argue, he picked up his phone and hit a number on speed dial.

"Who's the closest to Steph's apartment?"

Stephanie couldn't hear the response.

"Send him over on a Code R."

"What's code R?" Stephanie asked when he disconnected the call.

Stephanie was pretty sure Ranger found her question amusing, although his facial expression didn't change. "A Code R means go feed the rat."

"Rex is not rat! He's a hamster!"

This time Ranger did grin. "Same difference."

"Why make up a stupid code?" Stephanie asked, puzzled.

"It wouldn't be good for my image if anyone heard me say 'Hector, I need you to go to Stephanie's apartment and play babysitter for a rat.'

Stephanie laughed long and hard. She finally calmed down enough to look at Ranger and he was wearing a slightly irritated look. Stephanie saw it and broke out into laughter again.

She was still laughing when they reached Rangeman, although she had managed to calm down to giggles.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Note: Sorry for the long delay. RL gets in the way sometimes. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 5

"What do you think, B.?" Faith asked as they looked at the information on Buffy's laptop.

"It explains why they were so well armed and trained." Buffy responded as she looked through the newspaper articles on line. There were several newspaper articles that mentioned Rangeman, but they couldn't find anything on Ranger, the man.

They had also found out Rangeman had an outstanding reputation for getting a job done. These guys did everything from bounty hunting to home security to being guns for hire and they did it all very well.

"Who was the woman?" Xander asked. "I just don't see her being one of these guys."

"Looks can be deceiving." Buffy said, gesturing to the newspaper article she just pulled up. This was an article from the Scrogg incident and mentioned Stephanie's name along with Rangeman.

"Stephanie Plum. The Bombshell Bounty Hunter?" Xander seemed stunned as he read the article.

Faith laughed. "You mean you haven't learned by now not to judge a person, especially a woman, by how she looks?"

Xander looked a little embarrassed. He didn't need to be reminded of his less than stellar past with women. "If that were true, shouldn't she have kicked my ass?"

"She's from a neighborhood here in Trenton called Chambersburg." Buffy said as she searched more sites. "She's in a dozen articles, mostly because something blew up or burned and she was somehow involved."

"So, she's a bomber and an arsonist?" Xander questioned.

"No," Buffy denied as she scanned the articles for the high points. "She's one of the good guys. She just seems to have a lot of bad luck, especially with cars and crazy stalkers."

"She's a kindred spirit." Xander said with sign and small grin.

The grin ended about a second later when Faith hauled him up by his shirt and gently put him up against the wall with his feet dangling about a foot off the floor.

"She doesn't compare to you." Xander said as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. "It's just nice to know there's someone out there that attracts the crazies as much as I do. Of course, in my case its demon women and hers is just crazy humans, but I can relate."

Faith let go of his shirt and backed up a step. Xander could tell she wasn't mad. She was in the mood to play. "What about now?" Faith asked crossing her arms and staring at him.

"Now, I've got a kick ass slayer as a girlfriend. She can protect me from all the demon women." Xander immediately said with a grin and closed the gap between them. "My luck has changed for the better." He said as he put his arms around her and kissed her again.

Buffy cleared her throat and watched the two reluctantly untangle themselves from the kiss.

Faith moved back over to her and was all business again. "What's the move?" she asked.

"I think we need to pay Rangeman a visit in the morning and find out how much they know." Buffy said.

"Buffy." Xander began. "Those guys weren't very friendly tonight. I don't know that they'll give us anything but a fight and I doubt they'll listen to anything we tell them."

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to make sure we have their complete attention." Buffy said with a smug smile.

"What's the plan?" Faith asked.

Stephanie rolled over and patted the empty side of the bed. She opened her eyes to the bright sunlight that filled the room.

She turned to look at the clock. 9:30. Ranger had been up for a while then. He never slept past 6.

Stephanie drug herself to the shower and began her morning. She used Ranger's heavenly shower gel and thought about the night before as she shaved and moisturized. Huh, Ranger had some of her moisturizer here. She didn't remember leaving any here. Go figure.

Ranger didn't attempt to touch her last night. He simply let her shower and crawl into bed while he took care of some things down in the control room. She hadn't been able to figure out if she was happy about that or not.

She wasn't sure where Ranger slept last night, but she had a vague memory of cuddling up to something warm that smelled like Bulgari. It could have been Ranger, but she could have been dreaming and hugging his pillow, which smelled just like him.

As Ranger had said, she had a Rangeman uniform in the closet and underwear in one of his drawers. She dressed and headed for the kitchen.

She had just finished the breakfast Ella had left for her when Ranger came in the door.

She didn't need ESP to tell he wasn't happy.

"What's up?" Stephanie asked.

"I need you to come down to the control room and stay with the guys for a while." He answered.

"Why? What's going on?"

"We have a visitor." He said grimly.

Stephanie started to argue, but decided against it when she saw the look on his face. Something bad was going on, but she didn't know what it was. Ranger was doing a great impression of Tall, Dark and Silent. Maybe she could get the guys in the control room to fill her in.

The elevator ride to the 5th floor was silent and when the doors opened Stephanie could tell something was very wrong.

All the guys had their weapons out and looked tense. The guy at the monitors had his side arm within reach as he tapped keys on the control panel.

Bobby came over and escorted her to the cubby she'd used for searches in her brief career at Rangeman and led her inside.

Then he blocked the exit with his body, hiding her from view.

"What's going on?" She asked, trying to look around him.

"Unauthorized visitor." Was his two-word response.

"I figured that out." She said dryly. "Who is it?"

"The guy with the eye patch from last night." Bobby said.

"What's the big deal? He probably wants to talk about what happened last night."

"He got inside the building without us knowing." Bobby's response was clipped and Stephanie knew someone was going to get an ass chewing because of this.

"When did you catch him?"

"We didn't." Bobby admitted. "He just opened the door and walked into the control room and demanded to see the man in charge."

Stephanie fought the urge to faint. Change that ass chewing to an ass kicking. Someone would be taking a trip to Outer Mongolia for this. She didn't think it was possible to get into the building, much less the control room without alerting someone. There were cameras everywhere. How is it possible he slipped by all of them? This was very, very bad.

"Where is he now?" Stephanie wanted to know.

"Conference room. He wasn't armed at all, claimed he just wanted to talk to Ranger." Bobby answered with small shake of his head as if he couldn't believe anyone would be that stupid.

"Why am I down here?"

"Ranger doesn't know where the two women are. If he could slip into the building, maybe they could too. Ranger wanted you down here with us."

"I need to go to the conference room."

Bobby gave her look that said she was crazy. "No way. You show up at the conference room and I can kiss my ass good-bye."

Stephanie considered that for a moment. She understood why Bobby was concerned. She had often worried that Ranger would ship her off to some third world country. Still, she needed to know what was being said.

"Listen, Ranger didn't give me time to grab my gear and if the situation is that bad I think I need to be armed." Stephanie said. "Think I could borrow your stun gun?"

Bobby actually laughed. "Hell no." he said still smiling. "Hal learned the hard way not to let you get your hands on a stun gun when you're trying to escape and I'm not making the same mistake."

"Escape?" Stephanie felt her temper start to rise. "Are you trying to tell me I'm a prisoner here?"

"A prisoner, no." Bobby said. He looked at her and his face softened just a bit. "We're just trying to keep you safe. Ranger is worried and that makes all of us worried."

Ranger was the master of cool. The only time she had seen his emotions out of control was when Scrogg had Julie, and that only lasted a few moments before he got himself back under control. That Ranger was worried should have shocked her enough to keep her where she was, but it didn't. She had to get to that conference room. There had to be a way.

Her dilemma was solved when Ranger himself came down the hall and to the cubby.

Bobby moved out of his way and Ranger walked up to Stephanie and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"He wants to talk to you." Ranger said but quickly went on to say, "You don't have to. I'll get the information I need one way or another."

Stephanie's thoughts went back to the night at the beach house and the gang banger they had kidnapped trying to get information about Junkman. She saw some of Ranger's techniques that night, so she didn't have to imagine what Ranger meant by "one way or another", and she didn't want that to happen to the man with the eye patch.

"I thought we agreed he wasn't a bad guy?" She said.

"He snuck into the building instead of walking in the front door. It makes me question his character."

"Maybe he just wanted to get your attention." Stephanie mused.

"He definitely has my attention."

"I still don't think he's a bad guy." Stephanie said as she stepped around him and out into the control room. "I'll talk to him."

They started to make their way down the hall. "Why does he want to talk to me?" She asked thoughtfully.

Ranger looked annoyed. "He said something about being a kindred spirit."

What? Kindred spirit? She was sure she'd never the man before last night, so what was he talking about? "Okay." Stephanie said. "What do think he means by that?"

Ranger just shrugged.

"He's not armed and I'll be in the room the whole time." Ranger assured her as they got closer to the door.

"I'm not scared, Ranger." Stephanie told him all the while wondering why Ranger was so nervous. It was so out of character for him that it was starting to make her nervous. "Why are you so nervous?" She asked. "It's not like you."

Ranger didn't look at her and for a moment Stephanie didn't think he was going to answer. "When your 'spidey sense' tells you something, you listen to it, right?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Well, my instincts are screaming at me where this guy and those two women are concerned."

"What are they screaming?" Stephanie wanted to know.

"Danger." Was his reply as he opened the door.

Ranger walked into the room with Stephanie right behind him.

Ranger gave a gesture to Hector, who was holding a weapon trained on the man. Hector nodded his understanding, holstered the gun and exited the room.

Stephanie was watching the man. He didn't seem nervous or scared and he didn't seem particularly concerned about the gun that had been pointing in his direction.

As soon as Hector shut the door, the man looked at Stephanie. He started to get up, but aborted the movement as Ranger's hand went to his holster.

With a small, but genuine, smile he spoke directly to Stephanie. "Sorry I can't be a gentleman and greet you properly, but I have a feeling the big guy with you would have issues with me touching you, so a handshake is off the menu. My name is Xander Harris."

Stephanie expected Ranger to take the lead and start asking questions. When he didn't, she looked at him but the blank face was in place. She decided to do this her way.

"I'm Stephanie Plum." She said.

Xander nodded. "I know. There are several newspaper articles on you."

"Those weren't my fault." She blurted out.

Xander chuckled. "We figured that out."

"Why did you want to talk to me?" Stephanie asked.

Xander sobered instantly. "First, I wanted to apologize for last night. I just wanted to get my friends away the scary swat guys. I'm sorry if I scared you or hurt you in any way."

Stephanie shrugged. "You didn't hurt me. Like I told you last night, it was almost normal for me."

Xander grinned again. "We figured that out after finding all those articles on you."

Stephanie didn't want to get into that. Time to move on. "What's the second reason?" She asked.

"Second, I thought you needed some information." Xander said.

"You could give that information to Ranger." Stephanie said with a gesture toward the man in question.

"I could." Xander admitted. "But, I see you as a kindred spirit. You seem to attract every psycho for miles around. It's something we have in common. I'm not even going into all the evil women I've attracted over the years. So, I figure with your luck, the guy we're after will somehow zero in on you and I want you to be prepared."

"Prepared in what way?" Stephanie questioned.

Xander sighed. "You're not going to believe me at first. No one believes it at first."

"What won't I believe?"

"The truth." Xander said and looked her in the eye. "There's more to the world than you know, and most of it isn't pretty."

Ranger moved in front of Stephanie and blocked Xander's view of her. "Enough."

Xander studied him for a moment. "You know."

Ranger nodded.

"She needs to know." Xander insisted. "This isn't your garden variety psycho murderer. She can't protect herself if she doesn't have all the facts."

Ranger's response was lost in the noise of an alarm going off. Ranger pulled his weapon, trained it on Xander and backed Stephanie up into the corner of the wall, his body completely shielding hers.

Xander didn't move. "It's Buffy and Faith." Xander said to Ranger. "They're just trying to get to me."

Ranger didn't answer him. He unclipped his radio and started talking.

Stephanie couldn't hear everything, but evidently the two women tripped an alarm trying to get into the building.

"I'm impressed." Xander said. "The girls figured to get in here without getting caught."

Ranger's response both surprised and frightened Stephanie. "Are they Slayers?"

It was Xander's turn to look surprised. "Yes."

Ranger was on the radio again, ordering the men to make contact with the women and escort them to the conference room, but not to engage them physically.

When Ranger said Slayers, Stephanie mind went into a whirlwind. She still had occasional nightmares of the night when the Comstreet Slayers captured her.

Ranger finally realized she was shaking. He didn't understand what was going on. She hadn't shown any signs of being upset until now.

"Babe." He said as he reached back and put his left hand on her waist without taking his attention from Xander.

Stephanie was trying to control the panic attack. She was concentrating on breathing and trying to get her heart rate to return to normal.

"Slayers!" She finally squeaked out.

Ranger cursed himself. He should have known she would automatically think of the gang of punks that had kidnapped her.

"Not Comstreet, Babe." Ranger assured her. "Completely different organization."

Ranger had never lied to her. Sometimes he told her truths that hurt, but it was always the truth. She believed him, but her body was overloaded on adrenaline. It was going to take her a few minutes to come down.

Tank entered the room and Buffy and Faith entered behind him with Bobby guarding from the rear.

The men looked tense, while the two women seemed completely at ease.

Buffy and Faith headed straight for Xander and sat down beside him and started a low conversation.

Tank and Bobby took up posts around the room. Ranger moved forward and allowed Stephanie to step up beside him. She was still breathing hard and her heart rate was still high, but she was calmer now.

Ranger guided Stephanie to a seat at the end of the conference table, opposite from the three visitors.

Ranger sat down beside her and stared at the newcomers as they continued their conversation.

Buffy finished her conversation with Xander just as Ranger was getting ready to interrupt. "How do you know?" She demanded.

"I was an Army Ranger." Ranger said. He paused for a moment and considered his next words. "I led a team for recovery and disposal after an operation went bad in California."

Buffy knew he was censoring his words. She suspected it was because of the woman sitting beside him. At his last sentence the other two men in the room took an audible breath. She was betting they were part of the team.

"That must have been a wake up call." Buffy said dryly.

"You could say that. I'd heard rumors for years, but didn't really believe it until then."

Stephanie was extremely confused. She didn't have any idea what they were talking about. She was trying to put the pieces together when she realized Ranger was speaking again.

"I should have realized last night who you are, but I haven't come across anything like this since I left the service."

"There are dozens, maybe hundreds of us now." Buffy said.

"I had heard that." Ranger admitted as he looked at her. "But you were in California." It wasn't a question.

Buffy nodded. "Yes. But enough about the old days." She said, putting a halt to the trip down memory lane.

"Why are you here?" Was Ranger's soft demand.

Xander answered. "I wasn't lying when I was talking to Ms. Plum. She attracts the crazies and this guy isn't shy about media coverage. In fact, he's getting more and more bold, like he's trying to get the media's attention. I don't think it was complete coincidence that led both our groups to that bar last night."

"Doesn't matter. I'll take care of Stephanie." Ranger growled.

"I'm sure you will." Buffy said. "But, if we hadn't come here, would you have known what you're up against? Would you have known how to protect her?"

Stephanie had been sitting quietly listening to the conversation and trying to make sense of it all. Now, she was getting mad. They were talking about her like she wasn't even here.

"I'm still in the room you know." She said dryly. "If you think I'm in some kind of danger, I'd like to know what in the hell you're talking about."

"Later." Ranger said, not looking at her.

That just pissed her off. "No, now." She demanded. "You seem to know exactly what they're talking about and I'm being left in the dark."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me. What is going on?" Stephanie demanded loudly.

Ranger let out a soft sigh. He didn't want to have this conversation now. Actually, he didn't want to have this conversation ever. "It's a long story." Ranger said.

"Actually," Faith interjected. "It's not. The jist of it is that vampires, demons, ghosts, and all the monsters you thought were fairy tales are real. They hunt, they kill, and they enjoy it."

Stephanie was momentarily speechless.

"You could have used a little more tact." Buffy said, gesturing toward a slack jawed Stephanie.

Faith shrugged. "We don't have time for tact. This vamp is getting more and more aggressive."

Stephanie began to laugh. She couldn't help it. This was the craziest thing she'd ever heard.

Ranger shook his head. He knew this would happen. His Babe lived in a land of denial about some of the normal aspects of life. It wouldn't be easy to introduce her to this reality. "Babe." He said, as he took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him.

Stephanie heard the seriousness in his voice and stopped laughing immediately.

"They're telling the truth." He said softly.

"It's not possible, Ranger." Stephanie argued.

"Do you trust me?" Ranger questioned.

"You know I do." Stephanie answered immediately. It was one question she didn't have to think about.

"Then trust me when I say they're not crazy or delusional."

Stephanie considered that for a moment. She could throw a fit with yelling and waving her arms, but she knew it wouldn't accomplish anything. She knew Ranger well enough to see the tension in his features and body. He believed what he was telling her and he needed for her not make things any more difficult. For now, she would let it go. "We are going to have a very long conversation later." Stephanie vowed and Ranger nodded and she thought she detected relief flash across his features before his face became a mask again.

"Exactly how much do you know?" Buffy asked Ranger when he turned back to face her.

"Enough." Ranger answered.

Faith made a sound of disgust and said, "Enough to get yourself killed."

Ranger turned his dark eyes to her. "Sunnydale may have been my wake up call, but I learn quick. My team spent several weeks in your town and I saw things I never dreamed existed. I also learned the military had incorrect Intel on a lot of the things I saw. It made fighting them difficult and several of my men were injured. While I was there, I researched everything I could from every source I could find. After we left, I didn't stop researching until I had found everything I could on the subject. I wanted to be prepared if I ever ran into anything like that again."

Stephanie was a little stunned. She had never heard Ranger say that much at one time. It told her he was rattled. That, more than anything, kept her mouth shut and ears open. If it made Ranger this nervous, it wasn't anything she wanted to mess with.

"Our history with the military pretty much sucks." Xander said. "Don't blame Faith for having doubts."

"So, all that research," Buffy began. "Did you pass it along to your men?"

"The ones that were there with me, yes."

"What about the men here?" Xander asked.

Ranger gestured toward Tank and Bobby. "They know, along with a couple more of my men. I don't know if any of the others have a clue. It's not something that has come up."

Buffy sighed. "You're not going to back away from this, are you?" She phrased it as a question, but it really wasn't.

"No." Was Ranger's short reply, as he looked her dead in the eyes.

"So, where do we go from here?" Buffy asked.

Authors Note: Before I get flames for getting Xander in the building undetected and Buffy and Faith getting caught, I will explain, probably in the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: For full disclaimer see Chapter 1. Not mine, not making any money._

Chapter 6

Ranger was silent as he and Stephanie made their way back up to the 7th floor apartment and so was Stephanie as she tried to process all the new information.

They entered the apartment and Stephanie headed for the couch, sat down and picked up the remote. She flipped through the channels absently, not really seeing what was on the screen.

A beer in Ranger's hand entered her field of vision. She looked up at him, took the beer, and turned her attention back to the TV.

"Babe." Ranger said, settling onto the couch beside her with his own beer.

Stephanie decided to listen to what he had to say; she could go back into denial later.

"Tell me." She said, looking him in the eye.

"Everything they said was true." Ranger told her, holding her gaze.

"No, tell me about California."

"I can't tell you everything." Ranger said.

"Then tell me what you can." Stephanie huffed. "I'm not asking for national secrets."

"In a way, you are." Ranger countered. "It's not common knowledge and the government works hard to make sure it stays that way."

"Why?" Stephanie asked.

"People would panic." Ranger said and took a swig of his beer. "The general population couldn't handle the knowledge."

"What happened there?" Stephanie demanded.

"It was a secret facility." Ranger said. He didn't say anything else and Stephanie could tell he was deciding how much to tell her. "Things went wrong." He finally said. "Soldiers died and my team was called in for the clean up. Until then I'd never been involved with that part of the military, but things were dangerous enough in that place that they needed my team's special skills."

"Can you tell me the name of the town?" Stephanie asked.

"I'm not supposed to, but I guess it doesn't matter now." Ranger said with a shrug. "The town was completely destroyed by an "earthquake" a few years ago."

Stephanie heard the quotations around the word earthquake. She remembered hearing about that on the news but she couldn't remember the name of town. Something to do with the sun.

"I remember." Stephanie said. "The entire town sank into the ground."

"That's the one." Ranger said. "I can't tell you most of what went on there. It was, and still is, top secret information."

"I understand." Stephanie said, and she did. She knew Ranger would never be able to discuss a lot of things with her. That he was sitting here telling her what he could meant a lot to her.

"I can tell you this." Ranger said in a tone that frightened Stephanie. "There are things out there even more dangerous than the crazies you've had stalking you before. Things that are just evil."

Stephanie suppressed a shudder. She had trouble imagining anyone or anything any more evil than Ramirez or Abruzzi or Junkman or, she put a stop to that line of thinking before she scared herself even more.

"Yes, more evil than them." Ranger said, his ESP working perfectly.

"Tell me about them." Stephanie said.

PlumandtheSupernaturalPlumandtheSupernaturalPlumandtheSupernatural

"That went better than I expected." Xander said as he flopped down on the bed in Buffy's hotel room.

"It helped that Ranger already knew." Buffy said as she sat down at the computer.

"The chick seemed pretty freaked though." Faith said, sitting down beside Xander.

"She'll learn to deal." Buffy said as she started typing. "After everything she's been through, it won't take long."

"You talking to Red?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. I thought she had us clear to enter the building." Buffy said.

"What's she saying?" Xander asked.

"She doesn't know what happened. She was in their system and had all of the alarms turned off and the cameras were set to play the tape on a loop just like when you got in."

"These guys are good." Xander said.

"But are they going to be good enough?" Faith wondered.

"We'll soon find out." Buffy said as she logged off the computer. "I sent an email to Riley. If Ranger was in Sunnydale, Riley'll know something about him."

"What's the next move?" Faith asked.

"I think we should patrol tonight and see if we can get some information from the locals." Buffy said. "Brianna, one of the new slayers, is from around here and Willow asked her if she knew any of the local hot spots. She gave me a couple of leads that I want to check out. Then, in the morning, back to Rangeman for the war council."

PlumandtheSupernaturalPlumandtheSupernaturalPlumandtheSupernatural

Stephanie opened her eyes to find herself alone in Ranger's bed, again. She looked at the bedside clock and saw she'd been asleep about two hours.

She dragged herself to the bathroom and stifled a shriek when she looked in the mirror. Her hair was plastered to her head on one side and her mascara was smeared giving her raccoon eyes.

After a quick repair job, Stephanie left the bedroom and found Ranger watching TV.

"Feel better?" He asked.

"Not really." Stephanie replied honestly. She really didn't know how to feel. All the things Ranger had told her about vampires and demons had really rocked her world.

Stephanie started to speak but whirled around toward the kitchen when she heard a familiar squeak.

She went into the kitchen and found Rex running on his wheel.

"This isn't going to happen, Ranger." Stephanie yelled as she stomped back into the living room. "I'm going home."

"You need to stay here." Ranger replied calmly.

"There's been no threat." Stephanie pointed out.

"Yet."

"Besides, if this is a vampire, he can't get into my apartment according to you. He has to be invited and I'm not dumb enough to invite a vampire in. So actually, I'm safer in my apartment with a vampire after me than I was with any of the other crazies."

"Would you invite Dillon, the super in?"

Stephanie was sure this was a trick, but she just didn't know how. "Yes."

"What about someone wearing a Rangeman uniform? Would you invite them in?"

"If I knew them, yes."

"Then your apartment isn't safe." Ranger was still talking calmly and had his blank face on. "You never, ever, invite anyone in. You never know who you're inviting into your home."

"Okay, I can do that. No inviting."

Ranger gave a small sigh. This was important enough that he had to win. "What if they had a hostage and demanded you let them in. Would you?"

Stephanie worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "No." she lied.

"You're lying."

"What's your point?" Stephanie demanded.

"You don't know what these things are capable of." Ranger said through gritted teeth. He kept telling himself he had to stay calm and rational, but the thought of a vampire getting his hands on Stephanie was pushing him to the limits of his control.

"Are you going to keep me here by force?" Stephanie asked.

Ranger wasn't surprised by the question. "If I feel it's necessary."

"I wouldn't be happy." Stephanie warned him.

"I would rather you be alive to be mad at me, than dead."

Okay, Stephanie could see his point, but she wasn't giving up just yet. "It's still daylight." She pointed out. "I'm safe during the day."

"Babe, why are you fighting me on this?"

"I just don't think it's necessary to keep me locked up here." Stephanie told him.

"A compromise then." Ranger suggested. "Take one of my men with you during the day whenever you go out, but you spend nights here."

"Here as in your apartment, or here as in the building."

"Ladies choice." Ranger replied with a smile.


End file.
